Saturday, July 21, 2012

The Colorado Movie Massacre and Gun Control ... J. D. Longstreet

At
the risk of seeming insensitive to the deaths in the Colorado movie
massacre, I am going to point out the obvious, which may make us flinch.

As
horrible as the massacre in that movie theater was, it was only the
latest incident of its kind and, believe it or not, will soon dim as
even worse acts of man's inhumanity to man continues.

Bodies
are stacking up like cord wood around the world. and, frankly, that is
nothing new. Since Cain and Able, man has sought the death of his
fellowman. We seem to be hard-wired to take our brother's life. (Told
you it might make you flinch.)

It is within every man
to take another's life. The threshold for homicide may, indeed, be
higher or lower for each person, but, it is most certainly present in
all of us.

Decades ago America made a conscious
decision to allow the mentally ill to reside among us rather than
segregate them into isolated communities where they could be cared for,
treated, and kept from situations that might trigger aggressive, even
lethal responses from a mind unable to manage stimuli in the way the
"normal" mind does.

We decided -- as a society -- that
the mentally ill had civil rights and locking them away for their safety
-- and ours -- might infringe upon or even violate those rights.

In
doing so, we lit a slow fuse on a powder keg and then we turned our
backs, refusing to acknowledge that at some future point, that keg was
going to blow.

Frankly, I believe we have been lucky,
so far, that occurrences such as the movie massacre have been as few in
number as they have been -- so far.

Our cities are
filled with mentally ill homeless people aimlessly wandering the streets
and alleys. It seems to me that a truly caring society, a charitable
society, would see that those people were placed in an environment in
which they could be treated and cared for and kept safe -- and we could
be kept safe from them.

And then we have the
functioning mentally ill some of whom, themselves, are time bombs of
violence just waiting for someone, or some thing, to set the explosion
off.

Let me be clear: I have absolutely no idea if
the movie massacre could have been prevented. None. But, I think it is
a safe bet that such events in the future can reasonably be expected
and -- we as a society aren't doing nearly enough to find and treat the
mentally ill among us and when necessary -- for their safety and ours --
place them in institutions capable of caring for them.

Again,
let me be clear: If we do not reevaluate our handling of the mentally
ill in America, we WILL be faced with many, many, similar incidents as
the Colorado movie massacre.

Now. There is no doubt,
GUN CONTROL will be the next big issue before America. The mainstream
Media has already shown us its intention of wallowing in the gory and
vivid detail of the seventy-one people shot in that theater and the
twelve who died. America's attention will be turned to the tools the
killer used -- not the killer. The advocates of gun control were
already out in force within hours of the deadly incident.

That
is, in my opinion, flat out wrong -- but -- that will not deter the gun
control enthusiasts in America from using the murderous incident to
further their goal of disarming America.

In fact, the campaign has already begun. The political left is infamous for not allowing a crisis to go to waste.

In
the days and weeks, and, yes, even months ahead, the American people
will be bombarded with propaganda from gun control advocates across
America many who are employed by the Mainstream Media. Believe me, the
political left in America will not let this go before they wring every
drop of leverage for their agenda as is humanly possible.

We
can expect movement in the Congress, especially the US Senate, as gun
control advocates, including the President and our Secretary of State,
beat the drum for Senate ratification of the UN Small Arms Treaty, which
will, without doubt, affect the second amendment rights of every
American.

While our thoughts and prayers are with
the families of the victims of the Colorado movie massacre, we must not
allow ourselves to curtail our own freedom while we are in the throws of
a deeply emotional occurrence and we must shield ourselves from the
Mainstream Media's insensitive and relentless campaign to lead America
down a path she does not want to go while she is blinded by grief and horror.

3 comments:

You make sense on the treatment or lack thereof of the mentally ill in society, following the closing down of mental asylums. Many are time-bombs waiting to go off, receiving no treatment for illnesses that are dangerous to their fellow citizens. However, particularly in the light of that, guns should not be so easy to obtain. Responsible, licensed gun-owners, in clubs where they are taught to handle guns safely, are OK, but the USA open sale situation is a disaster happening everyday. Massacres such as this just bring it to world attention. It should not be a 'right' to buy a military assault weapon- I'm sure that's not what was intended by your founding fathers. From an Aussie friend of the USA.

The majority are period-weapons waiting around to visit away, obtaining simply no therapy with regard to ailments which can be harmful with their other people. Nevertheless, specially in the sunshine of this, weapons shouldn't be really easy to acquire. Liable, accredited firearm-masters, within golf clubs exactly where they're trained to take care of weapons properly, tend to be Okay, nevertheless the United states available selling scenario is really a catastrophe occurring each day.

Update February 9, 2009: The worldwide financial crisis has made it harder on banks and credit card companies are facing rising delinquency...

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